Wednesday, 23 January 2008

Peace...

To you, this probably just looks like a white door in a white wall. To me, it means a little sigh of happiness every time I walk past it! It's taken nearly 2 years to get from a green door in a blue wall to this. (I'm not even going to think about how many other green doors we still have in the house...)

Needed a little bit of calm yesterday after trudging through town trying to find a printer (person, not machine) to print pages for my book launch/show. Am I the only one who finds it alarming that so few printers know what acid-free paper is? Is it an unusual term? Should I be asked "Acid... what?" Or told, with the kind of smile generally reserved for women in hardware stores, "No, dearie... our paper is very nice, I've never heard of paper going yellow." Or even: " Is it a new thing?"

So, anyone have any ideas? Digital prints, A4 size, on acid-free, aka archival quality, paper. Preferably somewhere in Cape Town. I was hoping for a printer within walking distance, but I'll settle for anyone, anywhere.

7 comments:

I've been lurking here for quite a while, and I am glad to have some useful information to share with you!

I'm a professional graphic designer/print buyer.

About Acid Free Paper:

Most professional grade fine printing papers are acid free and unlike the scrapbooking industry, they don't really make that a big selling point.

Request a paper by name like Classic Crest (by Neenah) you can do a bit of internet research and then know what paper you want. As far as locating this in South Africa, that might be a bit more of a challenge.

If you can find a printer in your area who can tell you the brand names of the fine papers they use, you can do a little googling and find out from the manufacturer whether they are truly acid free.

I have nothing to give you as far as printers, but I completely empathize as far as the painting. I have bits and pieces in my house - I think we're down to a green door and frame in one bedroom and a yellow door and frame in the bathroom. That's just the obvious stuff. Bit by bit.

Hey JesseI've worked with at photographer, Tony Meintjies, whose studio is at The Old Castle Brewrey in Woodstock. I'm sure he prints on archival quality acid free blah blah and offers the service to a variety of other photographers and artists. Give him a call. Good luck.